Hey You With The Pretty Face
by WinterSky101
Summary: There are silver linings to even the darkest of clouds. There's one to the whole Ego mess, even if it takes Peter a little while to find her. Post-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.


**Title comes from "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra.**

* * *

Settling back into a daily routine after everything that happens with Ego is difficult, to say the least. Sometimes, Yondu's absence feels like a gaping hole that Peter will never be able to fill. Sometimes, he thinks he can still feel the thrum of Ego's power in his veins, a strangely familiar sensation given how little he actually felt it. Sometimes, renewed grief for his mother - his mother who didn't just die of cancer, who was _murdered_ \- swells up in him so greatly that he can barely breathe.

It's a hard time for the others too. Rocket is oddly quiet and subdued. Groot is still growing and heading into a stubborn adolescent phase that Peter is not excited to deal with. Gamora is clearly worried about her sister, although Peter thinks Nebula can probably take care of herself. The only member of the group who seems mostly normal is Drax.

And then there's their new addition, Mantis.

She spends most of her time with Drax, which is a pairing that Peter's not entirely certain is the best for Mantis's social growth, but it seems to make both of them happy, so what the hell. Rocket has made it pretty clear that he's not comfortable around Mantis, what with her powers, and Groot is growing prickly around everyone. Gamora doesn't seem to feel entirely comfortable with Mantis either, but Peter thinks she's glad to have another girl on the team. And then Peter himself… Well, he doesn't know Mantis very well yet.

He decides it's probably about time to change that.

He knows Mantis likes to look out at the stars as they fly, so Peter goes to the spot on the ship where there's the best window for stargazing. Sure enough, she's standing there, staring out the window. Luckily, she's alone.

"Hey," Peter calls.

Mantis jumps and turns around. "Oh! Star-Lord!"

Peter shifts a little. "You can just call me Peter, you know."

Mantis nods, staring at Peter with those big dark eyes. "Which would you prefer?"

There's something so servile about Mantis's behavior sometimes, something that makes Peter wonder what exactly she was to Ego. He knows that she put him to sleep, but what else did she do? Peter didn't see anyone else on the entire planet. Was she his slave?

"Peter's fine," he says after an awkwardly long moment. "Everyone else calls me Peter."

"Peter," Mantis repeats. She beams at him. It's not that bad a smile, no matter what Drax says. "It is a lovely name."

"Mantis is a nice name too," Peter replies, and Mantis's smile gets impossibly bigger. "So, you, uh, you like looking at the stars?"

"They are amazing," Mantis says, looking out the window. "I very rarely left Ego's planet. I always wanted to see the stars up close."

"Anywhere you want to go now?" Peter asks. "We could go to your home planet, if you want to."

Mantis looks at him in confusion. "But it was destroyed when Ego died."

"No," Peter corrects, "your home planet. Where you were born."

"Oh." Mantis looks down. "I do not remember where it is. I have not been there since I was a larva."

"A larva? Like, a kid?"

"I was orphaned," Mantis explains. "Ego found me and took me in."

Given the usual reason that Ego went traveling, Peter expects that he was probably doing something horrible on Mantis's planet when he found her. He doesn't mention that. Mantis seems to have some level of Stockholm syndrome (can you still call it that in space with people who have no idea what Stockholm is?) when it comes to Ego, and he doesn't want to deal with that right now. He's reeling enough already from the realization that his father, who he thought for about five minutes could be a cool guy, was actually an evil a-hole. He's not emotionally ready to help Mantis work through her undoubtedly complicated feelings on the matter.

"Wait," Peter says after a moment. "Ego took you in as a child?"

"Yes," Mantis agrees. "He raised me. The only other interaction I ever had was…" The words die in her throat and her gaze skitters to the side. After a moment, Peter puts together the pieces. If Ego had children coming and going on his planet for thousands of years, Mantis would have had to meet at least a couple of them.

"So wait, he raised you?" Peter asks, avoiding _that_ train of thought as much as he can. "So, kinda like a dad?"

"Ego was not my father," Mantis says quickly. "He was my master, not my father."

"Yeah, but he raised you," Peter says. "Which makes him kinda like a dad. And he was my dad, even if he was a dick. So that makes you kinda like my sister."

Mantis's eyes go wide. "Your sister?"

"Sort of," Peter replies. "Close enough. You're my sister now."

Mantis's face lights up. "Does that mean we are family?"

Peter is self-aware enough to know that he likes it when people are tied to him in a way that makes them less likely to leave. He and Gamora are close enough that she won't leave him (he thinks). Groot is kinda like his kid at this point, which is not something he ever thought he would be able to say, and he knows Rocket won't leave Groot, so that covers both of them. Drax… Well, there's nothing specifically tying him to Drax, but Peter doesn't think he'll leave either. And now, with Mantis, Peter can claim her as his sister and keep her tied to him too. That way, she won't leave.

So he's got some abandonment issues. Sue him.

"We're family," he agrees. "Welcome to the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Mantis lets out a pleased squeal and claps her hands. "I have never had a family before! This is so exciting!"

Her unabashed excitement is contagious, and Peter finds himself smiling back. "Yeah, it is pretty exciting. C'mere, I think it's time for a hug."

"A hug?" Mantis repeats, looking confused. "What is a hug?"

Peter is struck with a sudden surge of hatred for Ego, because apparently Mantis doesn't even know what a _hug_ is. "Come here," he says. "It's like this."

Slowly, telegraphing his movements so Mantis can back away if she wants to, he holds out his arms and steps closer to Mantis. Her big eyes watch him with curiosity as he takes another step forward, then he slowly wraps his arms around Mantis.

"This is a hug," he says. "You can wrap your arms around me too."

"Like this?" Mantis asks, wrapping her arms around Peter's back. She's very tentative about it, barely touching him.

"You can do it a bit tighter," Peter suggests.

"Like this?" Mantis asks again, and then she's squeezing him with more strength than he would have expected in her small frame.

"Too tight!" he croaks out through probably-collapsing lungs.

"Oh no!" Mantis lets go of him immediately and takes a step back. "I am sorry! I will not do hugs anymore."

"Not your fault," Peter wheezes. He takes a few gulps of air, and when black dots stop swimming around in his vision, he smiles at Mantis. "You didn't know. It's fine. Just don't do it quite that tight next time, okay?"

"Okay," Mantis agrees. A shy smile spreads across her face. "I liked the hug."

"Wanna try again?" Peter asks, holding his arms out.

Mantis slowly steps into his embrace. She still hugs him a little too tightly to be comfortable, but she doesn't cut off his air flow this time, so Peter's not gonna be too picky.

"Was that a good hug?" Mantis asks when she and Peter finally separate.

"That was a great hug," Peter replies, and Mantis's face lights up.

"Can we do that again sometime?" she asks. "If you don't mind?"

"I love hugs," Peter replies. "Hugs are great. We can do them all the time."

"Do you think the others would like hugs too?" Mantis asks.

Peter thinks for a moment. "Gamora wouldn't. Don't try to hug Gamora. And don't try to hug Rocket either. Groot likes hugs. Drax might let you hug him, but be sure to tell him what you're gonna do first."

"What about Nebula?" Mantis asks. "Can I hug her if she comes back?"

Peter almost chokes. "No. Do not hug Nebula. Jesus Christ, do _not_ hug Nebula. She'll actually kill you."

"I will not hug Nebula," Mantis promises obediently. "Do many people dislike hugs enough to kill?"

"Most people like hugs," Peter replies. "Just… Always ask before you hug someone, okay? Cause hugs are only nice if both people want one."

Mantis nods solemnly. "I will always ask. But I hope that people will say yes."

"Wanna do another hug right now?" Peter offers, holding his arms out. Mantis is adorable, and she's literally had two hugs so far in her entire life, so Peter's not gonna be the person who tells her no.

"Yes, please!" Mantis says, bouncing into Peter's embrace. One of her hands accidentally brushes along his bare arm, right below where his t-shirt sleeve ends. She lets out a little gasp as she pulls her hand away.

"I am sorry!"

"It's okay," Peter says soothingly. "It's fine. Should we get you some gloves?"

"Gloves would be nice," Mantis replies. She looks up shyly at Peter. "You feel… happy."

She's right, Peter realizes. He hadn't thought he would feel happy, not this soon after everything that happened, but he does. "I just found out I have a sister," he says. "And she's pretty cool, and she gives great hugs. Of course I'm happy."

Mantis leans her head against Peter's chest, letting out a quiet sigh of contentment. "You give great hugs too," she says. "And you are also 'pretty cool.'" She says the words with such precision that Peter knows she has no idea what they mean and is only repeating them because she can tell they're a compliment. "I am happy too."

Peter smiles as he holds Mantis close. "Good. That's good."


End file.
